Broad bean piadina

This Piadina con fave is a beautiful way of using up delicious broad beans whilst they are in season.

Ingredients:

  • 1kg broad beans, in pods
  • 1 small bunch of spring onions, trimmed, finely chopped
  • 100g Quartirolo Lombardo cheese
  • 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • flat breads, for serving
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

  1. Pod the beans and boil them for 5-7 minutes, then drain. If the beans are larger than your thumb, let them cool and then pinch them out of their skins.
  2. Next, add the spring onions to the broad beans, then crumble in the cheese. Dress with extra-virgin olive oil and season well. Stir everything together.
  3. To serve, simply place the flat bread on a hot griddle or in an oven for a few minutes. Once hot, remove, place on a serving plate and cover with the broad bean mixture. Serve hot or cold, with extra-virgin olive oil if you think it needs it.

 

Tip:

This bruschetta topping is excellent served on spianata bread, which is a typical flat bread from Sardinia. However, if you can’t get hold of this, use a good-quality pitta bread instead. Quartirolo Lombardo cheese is a sharp, crumbly cheese produced in Lombardy. It’s available in Italian delis, but if you can’t find it, use feta cheese instead, which is very similar both in texture and taste.